NSA Cuts Payroll from GH₵1.6bn to GH₵700m After Ghost Names Cleanup

The National Service Authority has significantly reduced its annual payroll from about GH₵1.6 billion to roughly GH₵700 million following a major cleanup exercise aimed at eliminating ghost names and tightening internal controls.

Deputy Director-General in charge of Operations, Moses Dok Kpeungu, disclosed the development in an interview on Joy FM on Monday, April 20, explaining that the reduction reflects ongoing reforms within the Authority.

According to him, the drop in expenditure was not due to a reduction in the number of national service personnel deployed across the country, but rather improvements in verification processes used to validate monthly allowance payments.

He noted that previously, government spending on the payroll ranged between GH₵1.5 billion and GH₵1.6 billion annually, but this has now dropped to about GH₵700 million after reforms were introduced.

The Deputy Director-General explained that the new system is designed to eliminate fraudulent entries and ensure that only genuinely verified personnel receive payments.

At the core of the reforms is a strict verification structure where monthly assessments are endorsed by supervisors at post, verified at the district level, reviewed by internal auditors, approved by regional directors, and finally reconciled at the head office before payment is processed through the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department.

He acknowledged that the process involves multiple layers of checks but stressed that it is fully digitised and has not led to major delays in payment processing.

The Authority says the cleanup has not only reduced government expenditure by more than half but also improved transparency, accountability, and credibility within the national service system.